Foreign Policy News and Commentary Update January 10, 2008

Bush Tries Personal Diplomacy In Mideast: President Tries To Solve Israel-Palestine Conflict - Helen Thomas (KITV.com, January 9):
http://www.kitv.com/helenthomas/15015519/detail.html

America vs. Americans - how the rest of the world sees us - Shadi Hamid (Democracy Arsenal, January 8): http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2008/01/america-vs-amer.html

Voinovich goes candid on Bush, Obama, Clinton, Romney, McCain and Giuliani (Update: Obama camp responds) - Stephen Koff (Plain Dealer, January 8): http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/01/voinovich_goes_candid_on_bush.html

Century Foundation's Best and Worst of 2007: Middle East Developments - Michael Wahid Hanna (Ascribe, January 7): http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20080107.145816&time=15%2040%20PST&year=2008&public=0

Bush's Israel Problem -- And Ours - Ira Chernus (Foreign Policy in Focus, January 8): http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4877

Abroad, fresh image of U.S.: Many see Obama, Clinton successes as fitting the ideals of US democracy and diversity - Robert Marquand (Christian Science Monitor, January 10)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0110/p01s02-wogn.html

Rebranding America Obamania dreaming - Andrew Stuttaford (National Review, January 9): http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzA2NTRmOTI0OTg3ZjdiM2YxMWI0Y2JhNTBlYmY2MWU=

Europeans watch U.S. elections with heightened interest John Simon (USA Today, January 10)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-09-europereaction_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

New U.S. president won't fulfill all Europe's desires - Judy Dempsey (International Herald Tribune, January 10): http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/10/europe/letter.php

U.S. levies sanctions on Arab channel: Al Zawraa TV, run by an Iraqi out of Syria, broadcast images of attacks on American soldiers. An Iranian general and two alleged Iraqi militants are also targeted - Paul Richter (Los Angeles Times, January 10): http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zawraa10jan10,1,6456267,print.story

Diplomats Give Rice Low Marks - Karen DeYoung (Washington Post, January 8):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010703030_pf.html

Survey: Diplomats Oppose Iraq Policy Matthew Lee, Associated Press
(Washington Post, January 8): Nearly half of U.S. diplomats unwilling to volunteer to work in Iraq say one reason for their refusal is they don't agree with Bush administration's policies in the country, according to a survey released Tuesday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010802052_pf.html

Study Puts Iraqi Death Toll at 151,000: Estimate Varies Widely From Previous Reports; Lack of Records Is Hurdle - John Hechinger (Wall Street Journal, January 10): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119991296505578647.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0110/p99s01-wome.htm

The Lancet's Political Hit Review & Outlook (Wall Street Journal, January 9): Three weeks before the 2006 elections, the British medical journal Lancet published a bombshell report estimating that casualties in Iraq had exceeded 650,000 since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. We know that number was wildly exaggerated.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119984087808076475.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Johns Hopkins' Iraq numbers Editorial (Washington Times, January 8): It would be nothing short of horrific to contemplate 600,000 excess Iraqi deaths as a result of the war. This number, produced by a Johns Hopkins research team shortly before the 2006 midterm elections and published in the British journal the Lancet, continues to be cited in public debate today -- even though the number has never been independently corroborated, and even though reasons to doubt its origins and veracity continue to pile up.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/EDITORIAL/537311046/1013/EDITORIAL&template=printart

9 US Troops Killed; 250,000 Civilians Dead in Bush's War? Juan Cole (Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion, January 10): http://www.juancole.com/2008/01/9-us-troops-killed-250000-civilians.html

A Surge Against Maliki - David Ignatius (Washington Post, January 9): Rather than dumping Iraq's Prime Minister Maliki, the Bush administration hopes to work around him.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803489_pf.html

The Surge Worked - John McCain and Joe Lieberman (Wall Street Journal, January 9): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119992665423979631.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Iran's Provocation - Walter Russell Mead (Wall Street Journal, January 9): If Iran wants a large-scale military conflict with a U.S. that is angry, aroused and united, endangering American naval vessels in the Straits of Hormuz is the right way to get one.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119992566081579523.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Iran's naked ambitions - Uzi Rubin (Wasington Times, January 8): The Iranians are committed to no less than a fundamental change in the existing world order.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/EDITORIAL/383623854/1013&template=printart

Disaster avoided, but just barely Editorial (Boston Globe, January 9): http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/01/09/disaster_avoided_but_just_barely/

Bush's Mideast Muddle - Michael Oren (Wall Street Journal, January 9): .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119984146243176521.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Israel's ties that bind: Shared history and values, not the lobby, unite Israel and the U.S. - Mitchell Bard (Los Angeles Times, January 9)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-bard10jan10,0,1721170.story?coll=la-opinion-center

Changing the Middle East - Helle Dale (Washington Times, January 9): Changing the Middle East has turned out to be even harder than changing the political culture of Washington. Mr. Bush has said that this will be "the work of generations," but will his successor carry the ball forward?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080109/EDITORIAL06/628976781/1013&template=printart

Mr. Bush in the Middle East: The president should make the rescue of Iraq the diplomatic focus of his last year Editorial (Washington Post, January 10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803571.html

In The Middle East, No Time To Spare: Bush must push hard for a two-state solution - George Moffett (Christian Science Monitor, January 9)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0109/p09s01-coop.html

Two-pronged approach to peace - Stephen P. Cohen (Boston Globe, January 9): http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/09/two_pronged_approach_to_peace?mode=PF

The Incredible Shrinking Agenda - Dan Froomkin (washingtonpost.com, January 9): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/01/09/BL2008010901704_pf.html

Bush of Arabia - Fouad Ajami (Wall Street Journal, January 8): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119975838414573779.html?mod=todays_us_opinion
Pakistan's sovereignty: The U.S. wants to fight terrorism; most Pakistanis want America to stay away. Whose rights should prevail? Editorial (Los Angeles Times, January 10): http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-pakistan10jan10,0,2315912.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

Dumbageddon: Bush's Delusional Policy Pushes Pakistan to Brink of Catastrophe - China Hand (CounterPunch, January 10)
http://www.counterpunch.org/china01102008.html

Tempting fate in Pakistan Editorial (Boston Globe, January 10): A decision to land US troops on the ground in the tribal areas of Pakistan is almost certain to make that nuclear-armed country more unstable, not less.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/01/10/tempting_fate_in_pakistan?mode=PF

Meddling in Pakistan - Simon Jenkins (Huffington Post, January 10): If indeed Pakistan becomes a "failed state", the failure will in large part be one of democratic imagination in Washington and London. We simply refuse to practice what we preach.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-jenkins/meddling-in-pakistan_b_80902.html

Democracy: inevitable no more -- Defenders of democracy, once the gold standard, now must stand firm to prevail - Madeleine K. Albright (Los Angeles Times, January 8): http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-albright8jan08,0,7991151.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions